1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image editing apparatus and control method for the same, a computer program, and storage media.
2. Description of the Related Art
One structural problem of digital single-lens reflex cameras is that their image capturing sections, which are composed of image capturing sensors and the like, are exposed to the outside atmosphere when changing lenses, unlike cameras of the noninterchangeable lens type (integrated type). Therefore, dust sticks to lowpass filters and the like on the image sensors, and is eventually incorporated into image data. While hardware support is essential in solving such dust problems, in order to rescue image data shot by cameras without such countermeasures in place, support by PC software (PC applications) is effective at the present moment.
Possible methods for solving the dust problem using PC applications include:
(1) Automatic dust reduction processing using image analysis; and
(2) Area copying processing.
(1) is a method involving determining the position of dust in an image, and removing the dust by estimating a pixel value which composes that area. (2) is a method in which dust is removed by combining pixel values of another area over the dust area, and allows an application user to manually remove the dust area by designating both the copy source area and the copy destination area.
In addition, while (1) is automatically processed in its entirety and therefore enables operation costs to be minimized, analysis processing such as preparing an image for dust area identification becomes an issue, and risks such as image quality deterioration due to erroneous decisions exist. On the other hand, although (2) requires high operation costs since area designation is performed entirely by hand, output results may be reliably matched with the application user's intentions.
Area copying processing is a function generally included in image processing applications as typified by PhotoShop by Adobe Systems Incorporated, and is a retouch method for hiding dust using similar, surrounding images.
However, even when processing a plurality of images, general image processing applications require processing from scratch for every image, and are therefore bothersome. In this light, since the positions of dust in digital single-lens reflex cameras are generally the same in image data obtained by the same body around the same time, a method may be contemplated involving storing the operation history in a memory, and using the exact same processing as in the operation history on other images. Image processing applications equipped with such functions include those which store the operation history in a copy buffer and use the exact same processing as in the copy buffer while also giving consideration to the rotation direction of an image.
In addition, a method has also been proposed in which compensation processing targeting moving image data is performed on a first frame of consecutive frames, and automatically applying the same processing on subsequent frames (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-103447). Meanwhile, another method has also been proposed for an image input apparatus using a mouse, wherein an instruction for previously designated coordinates is instantaneously realized on a screen through a separate button operation (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-195172).
However, while methods using the operation history as-is may be effective on images which contain identical pictures, it is highly likely that the use of such methods on images which contain different pictures will result in inappropriate processing. This is an issue which will not be solved even if the rotation directions of images are brought into consideration.